"I still think the architecture here is extremely familiar."

On the ancient walls, heavy with traces carved by time, many delicate reliefs had been sculpted—bizarre, oddly shaped beasts Ariel had never seen before, gigantic towers soaring into the clouds, and rivers that looked as if they were galloping across the sky.

The arched vault of the corridor’s ceiling was unbelievably lofty, and on the crystal chandeliers hung there, wavering candlelight burned.

It was hard to imagine that this could be a city created in the barren Abyss by demonfolk who were savage and unenlightened, with a level of civilization far below that of the continent.

"Did you remember something, Teacher?"

"For now... no. It’s just that this sense of familiarity is getting stronger. Maybe if I see more things, I really will be able to know something."

"We can’t stay long."

"I know. But if we want to take people and escape from here, the method won’t be that simple. We need to determine a safe route in advance."

"The information that mouseman gave us earlier..."

"It does include some information about the inside of this Gutongs Castle, but we still need to verify it. We can’t put all our chips on an outsider. I taught you—at times like this, the first thing you can rely on will always be yourself."

"Don’t worry, Teacher. I’m not going to make that kind of low-level mistake."

"Mm. Good. Then for now I’ll leave it to you. A demonfolk Grand Duke is stationed in a place like this. My soul power can’t be revealed too much, or I’ll be exposed."

A faint phantom that outsiders could hardly perceive drifted lightly, turned once, and returned again into Ariel’s ring.

Although it might have been because her dream crystal palace had shattered again and again that this disciple of hers had recently begun thinking about more and more strange things, in a situation like this, she was still extremely at ease about Ariel.

Being able to make it to today, what she relied on was absolutely not some so-called luck.

After all, that resolve—tempered through setbacks, yet still not discouraged, instead becoming even more driven—was not something an ordinary person could possess.

"Understood, Teacher."

Ariel answered in a low voice, her fingertips touching the ring as she temporarily pressed down the upward curve at the corner of her lips, focusing all her attention on the surrounding environment.

...

"We’re here."

This stretch of travel was far longer than they had imagined, which showed just how enormous the inside of this building was.

But when Ariel examined the surroundings, she discovered that the place they had arrived at wasn’t the prison cells she had expected—or rather, this place didn’t look like somewhere used to hold captives at all.

—What appeared in front of them now was still a corridor.

An ordinary corridor.

No longer the grand ancient atmosphere from earlier, and no longer those exquisite, gorgeous relief murals. This place was like the corridor you would see after casually walking into a roadside hotel that looked pretty decent.

On both sides were tightly shut doors. On them, in bright lettering, were numbers. Ariel’s eyes narrowed, because those were numerals written in a script that resembled ancient characters in some ways, yet had been simplified a lot.

According to what that mouseman had said earlier, this was probably demonfolk writing that the few higher-ranking demonfolk were using nowadays.

But aside from the numbers on them, these doors had no other special features. She couldn’t even sense the slightest trace of magical aura. Only at the wall at the end of the corridor hung an ordinary mirror, reflecting the group’s stunned expressions.

"Go in."

Gowilt really did look like some auntie who ran a cheap hotel. He took down a huge ring of keys from his waist, counted them, found the right key, and opened the door to the first room on the left.

"..." Because the scene was too bizarre, no one moved for the moment.

"What, you don’t like a place like this? You really want to live in a prison where rats and bugs crawl everywhere?"

Seeming to see through their thoughts, Gowilt sneered.

"Relax. After you live here for a while, you’ll have all the chances you want. When the time comes, you can go into whatever kind of prison you like. But for now... get the hell inside!"

Gowilt snapped the chain, and the group—unable to move because of the restriction—immediately became like linked little chicks, getting tossed straight into the room.

Ariel’s eyes gradually turned cold deep inside...

But Gowilt didn’t even bother to admire their miserable captive state. After casually warning them a couple of times that they absolutely must not try to escape and the like, he slammed the door shut with a bang.

Along with the sound of the door locking, everything became quiet again.

After the group exchanged looks for a moment, Ariel tugged the chain and found that because there was no longer Gowilt’s power supplying it, the restriction had returned to its most basic state. They could once again perform basic movement and communication.

"Really weird."

The first to speak was Nian, whose temper was bad to begin with. Because of Gowilt’s rude behavior, the fury in her chest had already reached the verge of exploding, only held back because she had no way to vent it.

"Why bring us to a place like this?"

They quickly observed their surroundings.

In the middle of the room was a spacious large bed, thin gauze draping down and swaying slightly. It could easily fit five or six people sleeping.

Opposite the bed, four makeup vanities were lined up side by side. Various hair ornaments, necklaces, bottles and jars were placed neatly on the counters.

Letting their gaze pass over those vanities, one corner of the room was separated by pink curtains. Under the dim, shifting light, the silhouette of a huge bathtub that could let several people bathe together could vaguely be seen behind the curtain.

This was also an ordinary room.

Or rather, if you looked at it from an ordinary person’s perspective, this was a comparatively very simple room.

But if you added prefixes like the Abyss, demonfolk, and the like in front of it, then this kind of “ordinary” place instead became even more bizarre.

"Did you find anything abnormal?"

"Nope."

Feifei’s fingertips moved slightly, and she actually forced the restriction on the chain open, turning some mana into threads that spread outward.

"Inside this whole room, there’s no magical aura, no battle aura, no array aura, no magic-tool aura. Everything is completely ordinary. Even though I can’t see what this place actually looks like, from my perception, there’s nothing special here at all."

"I think so too."

Nian nodded. "There aren’t any alchemical items either. Everything’s very ordinary."

So ordinary it was extremely abnormal, to the point that she temporarily forgot to vent her anger.

"But these things are ordinary to us. To demonfolk, they should be extremely rare."

Ariel stepped past the big bed that made her think of some unpleasant memories and left her feeling a little uncomfortable, arriving at the vanity.

These vanities seemed to have been prepared for them. The quantity matched too. Ariel picked up the bottles and jars and sniffed them carefully, quickly distinguishing that these were cosmetics and fragrances produced in human kingdoms.

In a barren place like the Abyss, no demonman would take precious resources to make things like this—or rather, they simply didn’t have the craftsmanship to make them. Therefore, these little things that looked inconspicuous on the surface had to have come from humans who had arrived here.

To demonfolk, these kinds of things would definitely be more precious than gold and gemstones. They were absolutely not something ordinary demonmen could afford to use.

Not to mention...

...giving them specifically for captives like them to use.

"So what does this mean? Before killing us, they’re going to use fragrances to pickle us first?"

Nian poured out a little fragrance and examined it. In her eyes, these things didn’t count as top grade, but in a place like the Abyss, they were rare indeed.

"Who knows. Maybe it’s..."

"Ah—!"

Suddenly, a terrified scream came from deeper inside the room.

The group’s gazes sharpened, and they hurried toward the source of the scream, yanking open the drifting pink curtain.

"What happened?"

"Wu..." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Under the orange-yellow light of the magic stones, Julia—the pessimistic pretty girl who had always been very inconspicuous—held up a cylindrical object with an uneven surface, tears at the corners of her eyes.

"I... I found this kind of thing."

"What is this?"

Nian, who was the most interested in mechanical objects, took it. "Some kind of torture device?"

"N-no... th-this is..."

Julia’s face flushed bright red.

But before she could finish, as Nian accidentally triggered some kind of switch, the whole cylindrical object began to vibrate violently.

Nian’s eyes widened at once.

"Th-this... could it be..."

"P-probably." Ariel stroked her chin, grave. "It’s exactly what you think."

"..."

Nian froze on the spot like her brain had burned out. After a long while, she finally reacted. With an enraged shriek, as if it were something filthy beyond words, she violently threw the object away. Her cheeks turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye, and while stamping her foot, she angrily scolded,

"Shameless... shameless! They actually—actually put something this shameless here. Those demonfolk bastards are way too shameless!!"

"Oh my."

Feifei, on the other hand, picked up the object that was still vibrating intensely with great interest and played with it in her hand. Because she couldn’t see, she could only explore it up and down with her fingers, and it looked like it carried a different kind of lewd implication.

"So it really is this thing. This is way too unexpected. Are demonfolk really treating us like captives?"

"It really... isn’t right."

Even as a veteran driver (in her own opinion), Ariel couldn’t quite hold it together either. While trying to make herself forget that filthy thing, she looked at Julia.

"Is it only this?"

"Th-there are a lot."

Trembling, Julia pushed open a hidden door beside the bathroom. In an instant, all kinds of “toys” that made everyone’s horizons explode appeared in front of them.

From top to bottom, everything you could want—objects that could bring all kinds of stimulation to every part of the body—was there. Some of them even went beyond what the group could recognize.

And at the very bottom were pieces of clothing—some as transparent as thin gauze, others so skimpy they could only cover a few points.

"Now we’re in trouble."

Feifei finally turned serious, lifting a long whip. "My delicate body can’t handle this kind of play."

"..."

Is this really the time to say that?

All of them couldn’t help but complain internally.

But Ariel abruptly turned her head, because after discovering these things, the whole room’s meaning...

...had become completely different.

In the middle of the room, the pink curtains on the big bed flaunted themselves, like a seductive woman curling her finger at them with a bewitching smile.

A chill ran down their spines.

"It looks like this room completely is like..."

Before Feifei could finish, her expression suddenly changed.

Not only her—Nian, Julia, and even Ariel—everyone’s expression abruptly turned grave.

Because a terrifying aura was gradually extending over from the corridor outside the room.

"Hmm... hmmhmm... hmmhmmhmm..."

A melodious tune was hummed softly, like intoxicating moonlight falling, carrying a kind of enchanting intent. Even though there was no music accompanying it at all, it still made you sink into it without realizing.

No!

Ariel violently shook her head, forcibly yanking her mind back from the influence of that humming.

Her mental power, forged through countless temperings, had actually been affected.

But what affected her wasn’t only the singing.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Footsteps approached. A sea-like pressure instantly swept over them. The more sensitive your perception was, the more it was like that. Ariel’s body trembled slightly. Only by pressing herself tightly against the wall did she force herself not to kneel down on the spot.

Some extremely terrifying existence was passing by in the corridor.

Just passing by.

Just passing by.

But the group exchanged shocked looks, and from each other’s expressions, they all reached that answer.

The Enchantress Grand Duke!!

One of the eight supreme beings of demonfolk, one of the demonfolk Grand Dukes—the Enchantress Grand Duke!

She actually came this quickly.

Ariel glanced at the clock on the wall and realized that without noticing, it was already night.

"Which room should I choose today?"

The Enchantress Grand Duke paused briefly outside their door, thinking with mild vexation.

But she didn’t agonize for long.

"Mhm, I’ll choose number thirteen. I like this number."

Creak.

Very quickly, a door was easily pushed open.

The girls’ fearful, mournful cries abruptly rose, then quickly died away.

Because the door had already closed again. Like little white rabbits in a cage, they could only silently accept their fate. At this moment, no one could save them from the claws of the ferocious beast...

And at the same time, inside this room, all of them were already drenched in sweat. If Ariel’s memory wasn’t wrong, she remembered that the number of their room...

...should be twelve!

One of the demonfolk’s eight Grand Dukes, the Enchantress Grand Duke, was next door right now!

"Dammit, dammit, dammit!"

Ariel cursed in a low voice.

"I finally know why they brought us to a place like this."

From the very beginning, their understanding had been wrong.

They thought they were captives caught by demonfolk, and at worst, the ending would just be being sent into a cold prison, suffering torture and interrogation.

But now it seemed that their real position right now was actually...

...prey and trophies captured by that Enchantress Grand Duke from the rumors, the one who liked women!

She had even specially built these rooms—each one like a pleasure hotel—for these exquisite delicacies she was about to enjoy.

"No..."

Ariel murmured. "Rather than calling it a pleasure hotel, this place is more like the Enchantress Grand Duke prepared for herself... a harem?"

Jealousy twisted Ariel’s face.

Her own crystal palace still wasn’t even settled, and this demonfolk bastard had already opened a harem. And she was playing this wild? Coming over this impatiently... to «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» open blind boxes?

Too hateful!

"That’s still not right!"

Ariel abruptly snapped awake.

"Now isn’t the time to think about that."

Think carefully. Since this is a pleasure hotel, since it belongs to that Enchantress Grand Duke’s private harem.

And since that Enchantress Grand Duke really would personally come at night.

That means...

"Now is absolutely not the time to leisurely think about these things. If we can’t slip out of here before being chosen..."

Ariel’s cheek twitched...

One day, they would be bestowed with the Enchantress Grand Duke’s presence!

...

Room number: fourteen.

Muen, with wavy long hair draped over his shoulders. Marwen, in a floral long dress. And Reta, who had finally finished fixing her braided pigtails.

The three of them sat in a circle, silently staring at something between them that was buzzing and vibrating.

"What do we do?"

Muen looked at Marwen and Reta, his expression so grave it was as if a world-ending crisis was already right in front of them.

"I feel like if we get chosen and bestowed with the Enchantress Grand Duke’s presence, it absolutely won’t be a good thing..."